Step Fifty-Six, Open to the Chance
by moonswirl
Summary: Gleekathon, day 1163: Kurt has been dispatched to spy on the Dalton Warblers, but it's hard not to think of home and his new family. - Paper Heart series


_Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 55th cycle. Now cycle 56!_

* * *

**"Step Fifty-Six, Open to the Chance"  
(Brittany &) Kurt, Blaine  
Paper Heart series  
_(all series now listed under the communities tab in my profile)_  
**

He would swear that at some time following his son's birth, Kurt had gone and become preoccupied with lists. As he drove on this 'mission' of his, as assigned by the rest of the guys in New Directions, he could only think about what they had left in diapers and wipes and the likes, and whether he should go and pick some up on the way. Once he'd reached Dalton Academy he had to stop and shake his head, releasing his list and instead concentrating on the task at hand. They would be facing these Warblers at Sectionals before long, and the others wanted to know what they were like. He was curious as well, no doubt. Just because he had someone to look after when he got home didn't mean that he had forgotten about Glee Club and what it meant to him. Brittany would be coming back to join them at school in January, and he would do his best to make sure she had Regionals to go to when the time came. In order for that to happen, they had to win Sectionals first.

The first impression he had of the place here was that it was impressive in its size and its style… He could have spent hours admiring all of it, but no, he had to focus. He straightened up his jacket and carried on his way. He still had to find this other Glee Club, and at the size of this place, it could take ages, more so if he didn't keep focus on his task instead of gazing at all the details… Asking for directions would probably expedite the process.

"Sorry, excuse me," he stopped a boy on the steps and he turned around. Kurt's hand slipped and after a second he remembered what he wanted to ask. "Do you know where I could the Warblers?"

"Well, you've found one so far," the boy gave a smile, and it ricocheted until Kurt was smiling as well. "Come with me and you can find the rest," he offered before holding out his hand. "I'm Blaine," he introduced himself, and then Kurt was shaking his hand.

"Kurt," he replied. "I'm… new, and someone said something about Warblers, so I was wondering…" He only realized he was still holding Blaine's hand when the boy in the blazer casually led him forward, and then Kurt was following him. He wasn't sure what was happening, but he knew it didn't feel bad, so he went with it. Before he knew it, Blaine had taken him into a room filled with loads of other boys in blazers. He wanted to find the Warblers, and now he had…

And Blaine was one of them, as he'd said, which he proved when he joined the group of them standing there so ordered and on point, and if he had to report back to his club about them, he probably would have to tell them that these boys were no joke, and they'd have to fight to surpass them. But this he had concluded within seconds of the performance he was witnessing. The rest of the time found him unable to look at anyone but the boy who had led him here.

He was something stunning all on his own, Kurt could only think. He wasn't even aware yet of the way his heart had started going thumping with a new frenzy, only swimming in the effect of it. He had not a single thought in his head of the task which had brought him here, and it was only when the Warblers had finished their song and Blaine came back up to him that it hit him…

Kurt had catalogued the details of him the way he had those of the great school, and where he found Dalton pristine, he found Blaine… beautiful.

But just as soon as this thought had formed itself in is head, he was knocked back into sense. He had responsibilities now. He was a father now. He had to look after his son, and losing himself because he'd met a boy he wasn't even sure would return his affections yet would not align itself to being there for Harry the way he should be. Brittany and Santana, it was different, they were already something before all this had started, and with one more move away from being together, where he was at move one… move zero. And even then, supposing that this boy would both be gay and interested in him, what would happen when he found out about Harry? People their age weren't looking to be parents, not unless they found themselves in a situation the way he and Brittany had… Kurt couldn't put some stranger ahead of his son. Either way, they were nowhere close to that, they had only just met…

"So you don't look like a senior citizen, I guess that means you're from McKinley?" Blaine had told him, and Kurt blinked, remembering himself.

"Well, you caught me, I should go," he nodded, and Blaine laughed.

"Please, come on," he indicated for him to follow, and as much as Kurt felt he should be getting out of there before he found himself in more trouble than he already was, he went with him. He did have his curiosities… about the Warblers… yes, about the Warblers. Because that would explain why the first thing he found himself asking was if they were gay… Of course, Blaine was, which meant he was one step closer to deep, deep trouble.

He could see so much of how this place differed from his own school, how could he not. The facilities alone were enough to make him weep, and he doubted any of those boys had ever needed to wash Slushies out of their blazers. And their Glee Club was looked upon almost like… rock stars. His experience at McKinley had been a rocky one, between being the only out gay kid he had seen and being in Glee Club on top of it, and that was before he'd been revealed as soon to be a teen father. If not for that last part, he would have looked upon a place like Dalton and decided it was an environment that would be forever kinder to him, but then 'that last part' couldn't be ignored. And of all things, it had made him stronger. People like Dave Karofsky, for instance, had gone and lost some of their power on him. He could still feel the jock looking at him from time to time, but it was like once he didn't look as scared, he became uninteresting… Karofsky still looked preoccupied about something, but Kurt wasn't going to preoccupy himself in return when it was for someone who had taken such joy in mistreating him before. He had his son to look after.

"Well I guess we'll see each other again at Sectionals," Kurt had told Blaine as they were about to part.

"Or before then," the other boy had shrugged, and Kurt looked back at him, surprised, but then he smiled.

"Or before then," he nodded.

THE END

* * *

******A/N: This is a one-shot ficlet, which means that signing up for story alert will not bring you any alerts.  
****In the event of a sequel, the story will be separate from this one. And as chapter stories go, they are  
************always clearly indicated as such [ex: "Days 204-210" in the summary] Thank you!**


End file.
